Tool adaptable to aid in the making of pleats and the like



June 15, 1965 c. F. PEARL 3,188,742

TOOL ADAP'IABLE TO AID IN THE MAKING OF PLEATS AND THE LIKE Filed Dec.26, 1962 l7 PIC-3.5 4"

20 l 20 40 I: 4| I 3] i I8 INVENTOR,

7 CURTIS E-PEARL, II BY ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,188,742 TOOLADAPTABLE T0 AID IN THE MAKING OF PLEATS AND THE LIKE Curtis F. Pearl,West Englewood, N.J., assignor to Pentapco, Inc., Elizabeth, NJ., acorporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 246,922 1 Claim.(Cl. 33-143) The present invention relates to a caliper-type toolatllzapted for use'in the making of pleats, tuck-s and the li e. g Theprincipal'object of this invention is to provide a novel and improvedcaliper-type tool having graduations on its body member to indicate thedistance between the outer edges of its jaws which are here in the formof straight fingers. Further, I provide that by turning a wheel, theslide is shifted on the body member to alter the distance between theirfingers and that at each graduated position, the caliper shall bereleasably locked automatically.

. A further object thereof is to provide a novel and im proved tool foruse in the making of pleats, tucks and the like, which is simple inconstruction, reasonably cheap in cost to manufacture, easy to use andefiicient in carrying out the purposes for which it is designed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as this disclosureproceeds.

For the practice of this invention, one form it may assume is to have acaliper-like tool comprising a body member with a jaw in the form of astraight finger extending normal thereto and co-planar therewith. Thegraduations are on this body member as well as a series of holes orteats spaced along and corresponding in position to the respectivegr-aduations. The line of graduations commences from the outer edge ofthe finger on this body member. In mid-section, this body has atransverse slot which is parallel to the finger. The slide has marginallugs extending from its lengthwise edges, which lugs are bent over thelengthwise edges of the body member to provide for the slidableassociation. This slide also has a finger extending therefrom inparallel relation to the finger of the body member, an accessible,rotatably mounted wheel having a lateral prong which fits in and isslidable along said slot in the body member, and said slide member alsohas a teat for releasably co-operative engagement with teats or holes insaid body member. Suitable stops are provided on the body member tomaintain the assembly. In the embodiment illustrated herein, the partsof the tool are sheetmetal stampings.

A detailed description will now be given of the preferred embodimentherein shown.

. In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification,similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

FIG. 1 is a front of a tool which is an aid in the making of pleats,tucks and the like, and shows one manner of its use to form a pleat. Thetool is here set so that its fingers are furthest apart.

FIG. 2 is a similar view, but here the slide has been set so that thedistance between fingers is at the minimum in this tool.

FIG. 3 shows the blank which shall serve as the slide member.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the wheel member in FIG. .1.

FIG. 5 shows .the blank which shall serve as the body member.

FIG. 6 is an end view of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is an end view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is an end view of FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 is a section taken at line 9--9 in FIG. 2.

In the drawing, the tool shown is of the caliper-type and designatedgenerally by the numeral 15, comprises a body member indicated generallyby the numeral 16 which includes a jaw, here in the form of acomparatively narrow, elongated finger v17, and a slide member denotedgenerally by the numeral .18 which includes a jaw, here in the form of acomparatively narrow, elongated finger 19. The edges of said fingers areperpendicular to the direction of movement of the slide member. There isalso a wheel 20, which here is positioned between said body and slidemembers and rotatably mounted on the slide member in a manner that partof such wheel is exposed and hence accessible to be turned by hand. SaidWheel has a laterally extending prong 21 which fits into and is slidablealong a slot 22 in the body member; the direction of said slot beingparallel to the directions of extension of said fingers.

For a simple construction, the body member may be generally flat andL-shaped, thus constituting an oblong piece 23 with the finger 17extending laterally therefrom at one end thereof. The slide member 18,is generally flat and of unsymmetrical T-shape which is nearly anL-shape, thus constituting the oblong piece 24 with the finger 19extending therefrom, from near an end thereof. The length of the oblongbody piece 23 is somewhat more than twice the width of the widest pleat25, the tool 15 will be called upon to aid in the making of. The lengthof the oblong piece 24- is somewhat more than half the length of theoblong piece 23.

The slide member 18, along its longitudinal edges, has the spacedbendable lugs 26, 27 and 28 which are bent over to lie against the rearsurface of the body piece 23 after the wheel 20 is mounted by having itsnipple hub 20' set into the hole 30 in the slide member 18. Inward teats31, 32 on the slide piece 24 serve as spacers to contact the face of thebody piece 23. The slide also has a hole 33 therethrough to serve as awindow to expose to view, one at a time, the graduations 34 on the bodypiece 23; such graduations being arranged to indicate the distancebetween the farthest edges 17, 19 of the fingers. Along said graduationsand similarly spaced in said body piece 23, there are teats or holes35-40, adapted for releasable engagement with the cooperating teat 41 onthe slide piece 24, and so arranged that when the reading at the window3-3 is /2, indicating such distance in inches to exist between thefinger edges 17, 19', the teat 41 is in engagement with the teat 35. Thelug 27 is then up against the stop 43 on the body member 16. When theslide member 18 is shifted so that the reading at the window 33 is 1%the lug 26 is up against the stop 42 on the body member 16. The positionof the slot 22 is midway between said stops 42 and 43. It is to be notedthat the track slot 22 is relatively short when compared with thepossible travel of the slide 18 and that at midpoint of such travel, theradial line on the operating member 20 to the trackengaging element 21,is parallel to the outer finger edges 17, 19. This permits the device tobe of optimum minimum dimensions.

It is evident that upon turning the wheel 20 clock-wise in FIG. 1, theslide 18 will move towards the right to close the caliper, and whenturned counterclockwise in FIG. 2, the slide member will move to theleft to increase the distance between the fingers 17, 19.

This invention is capable of numerous forms and various applicationswithout departing from the essential features herein disclosed. It istherefore intended and desired that the embodiment and use shown hereinshall be deemed merely illustrative and not restrictive and that thepatent shall cover all patenta'ble novelty herein set forth; referencebeing had to the following claim rather than to the specific descriptionherein, to indicate the scope of this invention.

I claim:

In a caliper-type tool adapted to'aid in the making'of pleats and thelike, a body member having a jaw extending therefrom, a slide memberslidably mountedon said body member and havingajaw extending therefrom;said jaws extending laterally with" respect to the line-along which saidslide member is'movable; said jaws being} opposite one another wherebyonmovinent ofsaid slide member, the distance between said jaws isaltered; each of said jaws being an elongated finger; the edges ofsaidfingers which are fanthest apart when said fingers are apart; beingstraight and parallel; said body member having a a track transverse thedirection of movement of said slide member, an operating memberrotatably mounted to and positioned betweensaidtbody an'd slide' member,saidoperating member having'a portion accessible for manual manipulationand another-portion confined between the 'body member and slide memberand said last mentioned portion having an element extending therefrom,engaged by said track for sliding movement therealon'g, thedistancelbetween the axis of rotation of the operating member and thetrack-engagingelement is less than the lateral width of the body memberWhereuponturning said. ope-rating member in one direction, said slidemember will be shifted so that said jaws will move away from each otherand upon turning said operating member in theopposite direction;

said slide member will'be shifted whereby said jaws will move towardseach other and cooperative stop means on both said body and slidemembers, determining the limits of travel of said slide member alongsaid body member; said track being substantially midway between saidstop means which arespaced onivsaid body member so that 'when the .slideis at the mid-point of its travel along the bodymem-ber, the'radial-lineon'said operating member from the ax-is of rotation fOf said operatingmember to said 'traek-enga ging element, issubstantially parallel tosaid parallel edge's of'said fingers.

V References Cited by the Examiner 'UNITED ,STATES PATENTS ISAAC'LISANN,Primary Examiner.

